


Daemon Dust and Voidfish Static

by feel_like_plastic_waste



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: good luck figuring out the timeline motherfuckers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2020-12-01 19:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20879426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feel_like_plastic_waste/pseuds/feel_like_plastic_waste
Summary: This is just a bunch of Daemon Au related content for The Adventure Zone





	1. The Lich's Daemon (Lup and Amon)

Amon collapses by her side, whimpering faintly as the poison courses through Lup's bloodstream.  
Her fingers curled up in their pelt as they gave her arm a weak lick.

"Sorry buddy." She whispers, "Guess we'll have to live out as a liches from now on, if this is the last cycle."

Amon closes their eyes, feeling their body slowly crumble to nothing but golden dust as Lup dies, the Umbrastaff tucked neatly on her lap.  
The two of them had spent cycles as liches before; powerful and undead, able to help search for the Light a bit longer until the next cycle, where they would return to their bodies. 

Amon, however, didn't specifically like being a lich- it was terrifying. They felt wrong. They couldn't touch anyone or anything and Lup didn't even have her face!  
It scared them more than they liked to admit, but now, as they slipped into the all too familiar darkness of death, they knew they no longer had a choice.

In a matter of seconds, the golden dust that had been their body rose and Amon felt themselves rise above their body, intangible and shapeless.  
Lup floated above her own body next to them, her face replaced by rippling, flame-like shadows.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about the gauntlet anymore." Amon told her, earning a small laugh from the lich.

The Umbrestaff trembled, then inverted.

"Oh shi- Amon run!"

____

"Sooo hey umm, whichever one you are- the dwarf?"

Amon jolted into consciousness, their undead heart skipping a beat.  
That voice!  
It was him!  
Taako!  
With Merle and Magnus too!  
This was the best day ever!  
They floated out of the shadows, trying to regain their original form as best they could despite their body nothing but golden dust.  
They halted when they noticed what was missing.

Taako was… alone? 

That wasn’t right- it couldn’t be! Even with the distance limit, Adva always stayed by his side, even if that meant hiding in the shadows and slinking through the darkness, her beady, wary eyes looking around restlessly.  
Yet there was no echo of clinking claws on the stone ground, no flash of yellow fur scurrying across the room to investigate.

Amon stepped forward, a small, pitiful whine building in their throat.  
Taako turned around, locking eyes with Amon for a very short second before the daemon acted quickly, willing themselves invisible and darting out of the room before they could listen to Taako’s confused bewilderment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this fic we have Amon! Lup's daemon who is settled as an African Wild Dog! They use they/them pronouns as you can see!  
Taako's daemon, Adva, is mentioned here! She's a yellow mongoose!  
Everyone else's daemons are to be discovered soon :)


	2. A Sacrifice Worst Than Wonderland (Lucretia and Felice)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucretia sacrificed many things to become The Director of the Bureau of Balance. 
> 
> Not all of her sacrifices were made in Wonderland though.

Next to Fisher’s tank, Felice ruffled his feathers nervously, pacing near his human counterpart with worried red eyes. 

“Luce,” with a flap of wings he’s standing on the desk, nudging her cheek with his beak with a calm gentleness, “it’s time, you have to hurry.” 

“I’ll have to hide you away,” She responded, her voice choked with tears that wouldn’t dare fall, “Felice you won’t be able to stay by my side, this world doesn’t have daemons, people would ask too many questions and I-” 

“You don’t have to do that!” Felice replies quickly, almost snapping at her with a sudden panic. Lucretia feels her heart lurch as her daemon slowly calms, his puffed out feathers slowly falling back as his voice soothes, “You can’t do that, Lucretia. Not to me, not after everything.” 

“I know.” Her voice breaks, her hands reaching out for her daemon and pulling him to her breasts, tears now falling freely as she holds him there, the warmth of his body against her chest, “I love you Felice.” 

“I love all of you.” 

In the end, Felice ended up locked in that horrible, dark chamber. There were no windows in here- Lucretia just couldn’t risk anyone seeing them. The little lights on the ceiling were dim and a pale blue and the door- the door was just gone, removed with some magic Felice was unfamiliar with. 

Around him, the others were furious. Liz was desperately clawing at the walls while Kim’s feathers ruffled as he flew around, trying to find an exit or a vent somewhere, anywhere! Adva only trembled in rage, her dark eyes glaring at Felice with an anger only Taako’s daemon could ever hope to muster. 

That didn’t matter though, at least, not right now, because right now the realization of what was happening was settling in the daemon’s head and his heart twist painfully in his chest. 

“She abandoned me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we have more daemons!  
We have Felice, Lucretia's daemon, who is settled as a loon.  
We have Liz, short for Elizabeth, she is Magnus' daemon and, or course, a black bear.  
Then we have Adva, Taako's yellow mongoose daemon, mentioned once more.  
And finally, Merle's daemon, Kim, short for Kimmil, and he is settled as an elf owl! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Questions Left Unanswered (Barry and Melanie)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry Bluejeans dies and reflects.

Barry Bluejeans  _ rejoiced  _ when he died in Phandalin.

His memories came flooding back to him much more violently than they ever had before, and had it not been for Melanie, he would have risked losing himself.

_ Oh shit Melanie _ ! 

Despite their form being mostly Dust, they wrapped around him, looping around him just as they would have back in their physical form. They didn’t have eyes in this form, but he could imagine them looking at him warmly.

“Did you see them, Mel?” He asked them with a sigh, looking around at the black circle that had once been a bustling city. The Gauntlet was gone and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. 

“Yes.” Their voice was just as silky soft as it had been in life, when they had guided Barry as best as they could while he went without memories. “They’re so different now- it’s horrible to see them without their daemons, Barry. Lucretia is a monster for doing this to them. They don’t even know that their very souls are missing.” 

“No, Mel, please don’t say that. Lucretia isn’t- well she’s- sh- she did some bad things and she made some bad choices but she isn’t- but she’s not a bad person, okay?” He managed to struggle out the words, yet neither him nor his daemon were unconvinced, their intertwined forms floating wordlessly for a while, heading back to the Felicity Wilds where their familiar lair waited.

It had been a blessing in disguise when they’d discovered that Melanie was immune to the Voidfish’s power. While neither of them knew how or why, Barry suspected it had to do with Dust- the very thing that made up daemons. It had been a newly discovered field of study back on Barry’s home cycle and if the situation he was in had been different, maybe he would be dedicating his time studying and understanding it instead of dying over and over again to try to stop The Hunger from destroying everything once and for all- at least, once and for all for the IPRE. 

His mind wavered back to his friends. Magnus, who was older and scarred yet still so  _ Magnus _ . All he had been missing was his daemon, of course. Hardy, reckless Liz who had been so much like him. Out of the three of them, Magnus had barely changed at all even without his memories or his daemon.

Merle was different though. He wasn’t as calm, wasn’t as much as a reassuring or kind presence as he had been for a hundred years. It seemed like his more… strange, icky old man flare had covered up most of the joyful, calm dwarf that he had been for so long and without Kim perched somewhere on his head or shoulders to watch you with giant eyes, Merle was practically a stranger now.

What hurt him the most, though, was seeing Taako. His brother-in-law, the twin brother of his beloved wife and his best friend. Taako who had opened up to the IPRE despite having learned to only trust his sister- a person whom Barry had considered a brother and whom Barry knew would have and had risked his life for his family as many times as it took- now Taako was different, somehow. If you hadn’t known him for over a hundred years, you couldn’t really be able to tell the difference between this Taako and the old Taako, but it was still there and Barry knew why he was different now. Taako was alone. Completely, utterly alone. It seemed that Lucretia hadn’t had enough to erasing Taako’s soul from his mind, but his heart as well. 

In the safety of his lair, Barry began the cloning process again, staring at the green liquid inside the large tube while Melanie circled around him, their body weightless. Barry let his mind wander more, going from Lup to Davenport to Taako and back to Lup and then to Lucretia. Was she happy up there, on her Moonbase? Was Felice with her? Had she seen the three boys yet? He wondered what face she made when she saw them again without their memories and without their daemons- how would she have felt knowing she was responsible for that? 

Melanie’s words weighed on him and the same question repeated itself in his mind relentlessly; was Lucretia still a good person? 

It didn’t matter, not anymore. He crossed Wave Echo Cave off of his map. Lup hadn’t been there either it seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Barry Bluejeans' daemon is a boomslang snake! This is actually inspired from @femme-fatigue on Tumblr, who also gave this snake to Barry in their AU! Please go check their blog and art out it's amazing! 
> 
> So Melanie is Barry's daemon! They are settled as a boomslang snake! Get ready for more of them!


	4. The Wandering One (Davenport and Cellys)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be just a general beach cycle fic buuuut it ended up being Davenport centric so here we go!

“-and remember, no dying during the beach cycle!” Davenport called after his crew as they darted off, kicking off sand behind them. With a sigh, he looked down at the ocean water lapping at his feet, his daemon swimming a few feet away. 

It had been a long time since Cellys had been able to enjoy actual ocean water instead of the semi-fake water of the large tanks that travelled through the entire Starblaster- an addition created specifically for the captain. The clownfish daemon stayed relatively close to the surface, vanishing into the deep blue for a few seconds before rising up once more, their tiny orange and white stripes as clear as the sky above. 

Davenport walked into the water, stopped when the small waves reached his chest. He reached out to his daemon mentally, calling them back to his side. Soon enough, the bright fish was swimming around him, glowing with happiness. 

“Sorry.” They murmured sheepishly, “I got excited, I forgot we didn’t have a distance limit anymore.”  
Davenport nodded wordlessly. Ever since the Starblaster had left their original plane, the Starblaster’s crew had discovered the distance limit between them and their daemons to simply stop existing. Barry studied this phenomenon for a bit, and while he couldn’t exactly understand why, he figured it had to do with the Light. 

“Cellys, why don’t you go off and explore this world without me.” Davenport suggested as he stared into the horizon. It seemed to stretch infinitely and Gods- if he could he could grab the ship and fly on forever, not even caring if this world even had an end to it. Something nudged his hand and he broke from his daydream, looking down Cellys, who had nudging his hand worriedly. 

“Davy?”

“Yes yes, sorry- you were saying?” 

“I was just- are you sure? About me leaving? What if something happens to me… you’ll die! Or… what if I don’t find my way back?” 

“Well, if any of those two things happen, I’ll see you next year.” It seemed easy to say now, Davenport realized. A year without his daemon. That had never happened before- but there was a first time for everything and Davenport could feel the longing in both his and his daemon’s chest to just fuck off and explore. 

“Davy-”

“Cellys, remember what I said.” He smiled at them, “Nobody dies on the beach cycle. If I could, I would leave as well but I can’t just leave the crew without the Starblaster- and I can’t really breathe underwater, so that kind of limits my travel options.” The joke makes them both chuckle, and Davenport extends his hand, letting his daemon rub themselves against his fingers in what was their closest thing to a hug. 

“I’ll… I’ll see you next year, Dav.” They promised before diving down into the deep blue. Davenport waited. Waited. Waited. Yet nothing. Their daemon didn’t rise back close to the surface again. They were gone.

Despite everything he had said to them, Davenport still felt a horrible hole in his chest as he headed back to the shore, the crew and their daemons long settled into various activities. He watched them for a moment before heading back into the Starblaster. He really needed wine right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last daemon to meet! Here's Cellys, Davenport's daemon who is settled as a clownfish! I actually forgot that clownfish were very very tiny hherhjd


	5. Do Not Stand at Her Grave and Weep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Justin McElroy won't let Taako have any wholesome interactions with Lucretia during The Stolen Century then god dammit I will.
> 
> Poem is Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye. I think. Hopefully I got it right. ok ok ik it's an overused poem but it fit the theme I was going for ok leave me alone

Taako leaned against the outdoor railings of the Starblaster, his eyes restlessly looking about the rocky mountain-like world they had landed in. 

His daemon sat near his feet. Her lithe frame looked unhealthily skinny and her blonde fur had lost it’s vibrant colour. They were mourning. 

Lup and Barry had both died within a few weeks of this new cycle. They had ended up in a strange world filled with underground mazes full of dangerous creatures- Taako’s twin as well as his closest friend had both found their end inside one of said mazes. 

Barry had gone first- violently trampled by the small pack of minotaurs they had unfortunately encountered.

In a blind rage, Lup had jumped right in the fray, casting Fireball after Fireball. She’d failed to make sure her daemon was out of harm’s way, however, and she collapsed to the ground dead before Amon’s body had even fully turned to Dust. 

Now, Taako and Adva were alone. The two people closest to them, gone in only a few confusing seconds. 

“This is ridiculous, Taako.” Adva whispered to him on that night, her light brown eyes looking up to search his deadpan expression, “It’s been a month- I- we can’t keep mourning them as if they’ve just died. We’ll see them soon, they’re not gone for good, you know that, I know that- let’s go back to our room, please, Taako, we need sleep.” 

“You can go, I’m not tired.” He replied simply, practically shrugging her off. 

“Taako-”

“Adva, just- just fucking go, okay? I don’t need this right now.” Taako instantly felt horrible guilt when Adva flinched at his snapping tone, her eyes shining with hurt. 

“Fine.” She growled, turning away and slinking off miserably back inside the Starblaster, taking advantage of their lack of distance limit to vanish out of his sight for good. 

Taako turned back towards the night sky with a deep sigh, his heart aching. He figured he would spend the rest of the night here, in silence. He could meditate in the morning if he felt really tired, but for now, the stars sufficed as company. For a brief moment, he thought he could hear Lup’s famous sigh of disapproval, followed by hurried footsteps. 

He spun around, hoping Adva had returned- yet there was no one. Figures. Again, he turned back around, though the silence only lasted a few seconds before a familiar voice suddenly boomed behind him, making him jump; 

“Do not stand at my grave and weep

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow-”

“God- fuck- dammit Lucretia!” 

She stood behind him with a mischievous face, smiling with pearly white teeth and holding a small, red covered book in her hands. Felice, her daemon, was nowhere to be seen. 

Taako knew that book well; it was a book full of old poems that Lucretia had brought along with her at the very beginning of their journey. 

She had a habit of reading it aloud to him on cycles where Lup died. Though he had found himself many times sneaking to her room just to listen to her read. It had become a comforting thing for him, in truth- it felt real and solid and hearing it come from a voice he cherished made the poems mean so much more.

Needless to say, he had found himself memorizing quite a few of them; so no matter what mood he was in, he couldn’t chase away Lucretia whenever she would approach him with a poem, new or old.

Despite his earlier interruption, Lucretia proceeded in her reading, lowering her voice slightly so she wouldn’t wake any other of the crew members (Bless her, honestly, because Taako wasn’t in the mood for anyone else right now). 

“I am the diamond glints on the snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain. 

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning’s hush

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight. 

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;” 

“ **I am not there. I did not die** .” They finished the poem in unison. Taako found himself chuckling at that, turning away once again to look at the stars. They shone a little less now, and the black sky had started to shift to a dark blue. 

“You should be asleep, Lucy.” 

“So should you.” 

“You know elves don’t sleep.” 

“I know that you sleep,” She retorted quickly, “and that you snore too. Really loudly.” 

“Fuck off.” 

“No you.” 

He glared at her and she blew him a raspberry. 

“Come on back inside, Taako. We need you.” Her tone was calmer now, more serious with her bright blue eyes levelling his. “We can’t find the Light without you, Arcanist.” 

The term was meant to flatter him, and it sort of worked. He stilled flipped her off though, for good measure. There was a heavy silence between them as they stared each other down with neutral expressions, though Lucretia’s was tainted with exasperation. 

“If you don’t go to bed, I’ll wake up Magnus.” She finally dropped into the silence, a smirk growing on her features. Taako groaned again, letting his eyes roll with a flare of exaggerated drama.

“ _ Fine _ ! You win, I’ll go.” 

He marched down past her, avoiding an unwanted attempt at a hug and stepped into the hallway, where Felice flew past him. He didn’t turn around to listen to what the loon daemon was whispering to Lucretia, simply headed down to his room. Before he could open the door, he finally shot a look to Lucretia, who was watching him go with a saddened smile. 

“Goodnight Taako.” She called to him, though it was barely a whisper. He acknowledged her with a nod, grumbling a ‘goodnight’ before entering his room. 

Adva was curled on the bed, her eyes open and staring at the wall ahead of her. She didn’t react to him entering the room, not did she react to him changing into his footie pajamas and getting to bed, 

“Goodnight, Adva.” Taako ended up telling her anyway, not expecting a reply. He would apologize to her in the morning. For now, he really needed some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daemons! In this fic! Are!
> 
> Adva! Taako's daemon who appears rather briefly. She is a yellow mongoose and the only one between them with a braincell!  
Felice is Lucretia's daemon- though he's just mentioned and doesn't actually appear


	6. Curiousity killed the Reaper (but he's fine)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz becomes the thinking emoji and that's about it

Kravitz was… freaked out. 

Not a feeling he was used to and definitely not one he knew how to deal with, but here he was anyway, standing in front of a soulless elf. 

No, not soulless. He watched as Taako went on about whatever he was talking about, that strange umbrella covered in golden dust dangling from his arm. Taako wasn’t soulless, Kravitz could sense it. 

Yet, it seemed so far away. As if his soul was wandering somewhere far, far outside of his body where it should be. He had gotten the same feeling from Taako’s two… he wasn't sure what to call them. Friends? Compatriots? Well, it didn't matter. They all definitely had a soul, despite the amount of times they’d died, yet just like Taako, their souls seemed somewhere else entirely. 

He'd questioned The Raven Queen herself, curious to see if she knew of anything about souls that resided far from their bodies, yet she knew nothing of it. Instead, she assumed it just another form of necromancy and urged him to destroy them. 

Kravitz was freaked out, but he was also curious. 

He had sensed the presence of a lich, then Taako's umbrella let out a burst of flame that, thankfully, was aimed at the sky. Taako apologized sheepishly, frowning at the thing before hanging it back on his belt. It was so much more vibrant against the black pants the elf was wearing, yet the golden dust that covered it didn't transfer on to them. It was like the dust itself was clinging onto the umbrella, shifting and moving along wherever it went. 

There was definitely something not quite right with that. There was definitely something not quite right with Taako too. Perhaps he should have asked about it, though something in his undead guts told him that he wouldn't get much of an answer. 

Yet, now that he was outside with Taako, standing not too far from the strange, large buildings atop the fucking moon, Kravitz felt it. 

Taako's soul. It seemed so much closer now. He excused himself to the elf and vanished. Of course he felt pretty bad about it. It had been such a lovely evening and, despite the fact that it was meant for negotiation about what to do with the inhabitants of Refuge, he had honestly had a good time. 

He didn't return to the Astral Plane though. Instead, he headed towards Taako's soul. It felt almost as vibrant as that umbrella, though it felt… tired, worn out, angry. Nothing like Taako, yet undeniably, exactly the same. 

He wasn't expecting to find himself in a small, dimly lit room full of animals.

And he wasn't expecting a mongoose to shoot up a look at him with such a human expression on its face that he had to step back. 

Though most of all, he wasn't expecting it to tell him; "I don't know who you are, but we need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talking Mongoose. What will she say? 
> 
> This is where I take the canon plot and shred it.


End file.
